We caught up with the brilliant and insightful CELIA MILTON a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, CELIA thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
Wouldn’t it be great if that “how do you succeed” question could be answered the same way for all potential entrepreneurs? Sorry, it can’t, but I think there are some universal truths that hold true for all of us, no matter what realm we inhabit!
I am a wedding officiant, so my point of view is colored by years of finding and marrying couples in unique and personal ways, but you can absolutely use this advice whether you’re pouring sage and lavender candles, making the biggest cookies in town or creating birdhouses that look like historic landmarks.
You have to find a niche that no one else is serving (or is serving badly) and then surround that ‘product” with exceptional customer service, a personality driven culture and the desire to work 90 hours a week for yourself instead of 40 for someone else. (No, I did not make that up, but it’s completely true; if anyone can provide a citation, please do!)
You have to be able to communicate, by everything you say and do, why your potential clients should be come ‘raving fans” (now, THAT I have a citation for; it’s from Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, in their marvelous book by the same name). You should have a product or service so singular, so spectacular, so fun that your clients cannot wait to tell everyone they know about you. Your sales process should be so amazing, so unique that they are thrilled when they sign your contract.
Because “it” doesn’t start on the day of their event or the day they get your custom birdfeeder. It starts from the first minute they encounter you; the way you answer your phone. The speed at which you respond to them. Their contract package or your invoice. (If you’re just sending out a boring contract in a white envelope? A printed invoice that looks like every other invoice they get? Guess what? You’ve blown an opportunity to create a ‘raving fan’.)
And ideally, they’ll be so surprised by the process, even before the “product”, they’ll post reviews, which are golden currency is any overcrowded marketplace.
So take a minute to think about how everyone else in your market works. What do they say? How do they shepherd their clients through the sales process and beyond? Are they order takers or are they partners on the path?
And then do something else differently. Don’t ask the same questions. Don’t have the conversations. Don’t behave the way everyone else does.
Don’t be afraid to be authentic.
There is a wonderful quote from Robert Fulgham that I use quite often in my wedding scripts;
“We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.”
It’s absolutely the sentiment that will guide your clients to you and keep them there. Because we all think we’re unique, but sometimes out of fear, desperation or the misplaced desire to book every client that comes to us, good fit or not, we try to be something for everyone, instead of everything to some.
Good luck!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I owned a very upscale catering business for years. At some point, I began to doubt my enthusiasm for digging quacamole out of the delivery van’s dashboard and looked for an alternative to that “lifestyle”.
I went to seminary with the idea of becoming a minister in a church but I soon realized that this wasn’t my path. Ironically, that was very much like owning a catering business, lol!
One of the reasons I started my business was that I felt that there were many couples who weren’t served by the traditional avenues that could legalize their marriage. (Boy, that sounds dull, doesn’t it!) I started this practice before same sex couples could even get married, but we COULD do civil unions). And we are very proud to create meaningful, significant ceremonies for couple of all types, of all combinations.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Clearly, Covid presented an opportunity (no, a necessity) to pivot. I remember the exact moment too. It was the second weekend of March, 2020. I was officiating for four couples that weekend. LIstening to the radio on the drive back, I heard some more alarming news about Covid.
On Monday morning, our phone started to ring. Couples moving, couples canceling…”How long can this last”….
It lasted a long time. We had couples calling us to do small weddings, we had couples who wanted to elope. We shifted our focus to include those couples.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I’ve learned that we can’t be everything to everyone. We need to be fiercely authentic in our offerings and find our ideal couples who will walk out on that ledge with us to create a singular event for them and their familes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.celiamilton.com
- Instagram: @njvowsnow